HALB's Annual Day of History

The Hebrew Academy of Long Beach held its ninth annual HALB History Day on Feb. 9, part of the National History Day program that challenges students across the country to think deeply about the past and its impact on the present.

For five months, 102 eighth grade students immersed themselves in this year’s theme: Revolution, Reaction, Reform. They did more than research events, they stepped inside them, asking what forces ignite change, who resists it, and which reforms reshape society.

Working with primary sources, students debated interpretation, analyzed evidence, and crafted arguments that reflected both intellectual rigor and personal investment.

Walking through HALB History Day felt like moving through time. In one room, students transported visitors to the streets during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, confronting impossible choices and extraordinary courage, while others explored Holocaust history through deeply personal connections to family memory and identity. In another, guests stood at the gates of Disneyland, examining how one bold vision transformed American leisure. Around the corner, the concrete barrier of the Fall of the Berlin Wall symbolically crumbled, and nearby students traced how Branch Rickey helped integrate Major League Baseball, demonstrating how reform often begins with moral courage.

Students presented their work in one of three formats: documentary, website, or exhibit. Each required extensive research, clear argumentation, and confident public presentation, blending scholarship with creativity and technology. The top three projects in each category advance to Long Island History Day at Hofstra University on March 22, where HALB students will compete among some of Long Island’s most accomplished young historians.

First Place Exhibit: “ ‘Tear Down This Wall,’ A Revolution in Berlin,” by Jonah Brown, Eitan Englander, Alex Sinnreich, Eitan Sokol, and Jacob Spector.

First Place Documentary: “A Rhythm Revolution: The Birth of Rock n’ Roll,” by Aliyah Amar, Aviva Aryeh, Ella Frenkel, Ariel Spitz, and Layla Schwartz.

First Place Website: “Branch Rickey’s Baseball Revolution: From Farm Systems to Breaking the Color Line,” by Yoni Fischbein, Rafi Levine, Sam Medetsky, Daniel Sacks, and Kobe Stern.